When money is on the table, people tend to get interested. And $42 million is enough to perk up a lot of ears.
Southwestern Indiana is in line to receive $42 million in funding from Regional Cities Initiative, a state program that aims to improve quality of place and boost the state's population.
In Vanderburgh, Warrick, Posey and Gibson counties, the money would help fund 12 projects. Including local public and/or private funding, those projects represent $671 million in total investment.
"It's all these investments working together that will transform the region," economic development official Greg Wathen said recently during an Evansville meeting with Gov. Mike Pence and area business leaders. Regional Cities funding comes from a recent state tax amnesty program. The program collected more money than expected — $138 million cash, with another $22 million expected to come in via payment plans.
Regional Cities originally envisioned providing funding to two regions, but the tax amnesty windfall led the IEDC to recommend that three regions receive Regional Cities funding: Southwestern Indiana and the Fort Wayne and South Bend regions.
Pence supports the additional funding, but state legislators must also agree. The 2016 legislative session begins Jan. 5.
Here's a look at all 12 Regional Cities projects.
$9 million will go toward building a medical research center at Evansville's planned Downtown medical education complex. The project will also require $112.1 million in public funding and $62.5 million in private funding.
Groundbreaking for the complex took place last fall. When complete, it will house the Indiana University School of Medicine's Evansville campus. The IU School of Dentistry, the University of Evansville and University of Southern Indiana will also have a presence there.
Dr. Steven Becker, IU's Evansville medical school director, said having a research center should attract additional health care entities to Downtown. And having Regional Cities money means the research center can be added sooner than it otherwise could, he said.
"What the Regional Cities initiative allows us to do is probably jump forward five years."
$5 million for renovations at Evansville Regional Airport. This would be combined with $5 million in public funding.
Nate Hahn, the airport's director of operations and maintenance, said the facility has already started working on the improvements, which will include new air-conditioner chillers, new flooring, and updated ticketing and entrance areas. The work will also include combining the airport's two existing security screening areas into one central area.
$5 million toward a new fitness facility at the YMCA of Southwestern Indiana's Downtown Evansville campus. This project would also require $20 million in private funding.
The Y plans to build a new fitness facility on the space that currently serves at the YMCA's northern parking lot. Once it moves the fitness facilities into the new space, the Y plans to repurpose the old space into affordable housing units and commercial/retail space.
$5 million will be used to purchase property on which a mixed-use residential/retail/commercial facility would be built along Evansville's Downtown Riverfront. Total project cost includes $18.3 million in public funding and $105 million in private funding. As described in the Regional Cities proposal, the project would include housing units, retail, restaurants and entertainment venues.
$4.33 million for an urban living research center sponsored by Vectren and Haier America. This project would also require $22.67 million in private funding and $500,000 in public funding.
The project will serve as a living laboratory for Vectren and Haier to do research commonly referred to as "the Internet of things" — connecting real world objects to each other, and to the Internet, via embedded sensors.
Haier America, a China-based appliance maker, opened its North American design center in Evansville this summer. And Vectren is interested in studying energy efficiency and the so-called "smart grid" where users can monitor and adjust their energy use in real time via the Internet.
The housing units, geared toward millennials, will give Haier and Vectren a chance to research in a real-world setting, said Eric Schach, senior vice president of utility operations at Vectren.
$3.17 million to build connector pedestrian/bicycle trails around the area. This project would also require $49.28 million in public funding and $4 million in private funding. Plans call for trails connecting Downtown and North Main Street; IU's new Downtown campus with UE and with West Franklin Street; UE with the former Roberts Stadium site; and Haynie's Corner with the existing Greenway.
$3 million for mixed-use housing at Oakland City University. This project would also require $9 million in public funding and $20.5 million in private funding.
The project would include retail and commercial space on the ground floor, with student housing on the second floor.
Oakland City University's eastern edge is only a few blocks from Downtown Oakland City. Wathen said the school had already been planning to build elsewhere, but Regional Cities officials convinced them the housing project could have more impact Downtown.
"It'll help rebuild a downtown," Wathen said.
$2.5 million to build a new science center at Signature School. This project would also require $500,000 in private funding. The additional space would allow the charter school, which consistently has a waiting list, to enroll an additional 90 students, said Executive Director Jean Hitchcock.
Hitchcock said she regularly hears from families who say their decision to move to Evansville — or stay here — hinges on their child's ability to enroll at the school.
$2 million for a conference center near Victoria National Golf Course in Warrick County.
The conference center would be built in Friedman Park, adjacent to Victoria National. The project would also include $6 million in public funding for Friedman Park improvements. It also calls for $28 million in private investment in additional housing and golf facility improvements.
$1.5 million to complete streets, trails and landscaping at Warrick Wellness Trail, a medical/health-focused development district in Warrick County. According to the Regional Cities plan, having this infrastructure in place will help attract a number of other parties with interest in the site. Those projects include medical developments, two hotels, two medical office buildings, a continuing-care retirement community, lifestyle apartments and retail/commercial investment.
If all of these developments come to pass, they would represent $154 million in private funding and $9 million in public funding in addition to the Regional Cities money.
$1 million for a regional broadband demonstration project. The project would also require $1.9 million in public funding. The goal is to bring broadband Internet service to rural areas that might otherwise not be considered attractive markets.
$500,000 for four separate food- and art-related projects in New Harmony. These projects would also require $500,000 in private funding. The proposed projects include turning the New Harmony bridge, which has been closed to vehicle traffic for several years, into a bike-pedestrian trail. They also include turning the former New Harmony High School into a food- and arts-focused educational center; turning the former Odd Fellows Hall into a storefront and children's museum; and creating an outdoor farmers market.